GOODBYE TO OHIO FROM THE SHORE OF LAKE ERIE

“Nothing brings out the lower traits of human nature like office-seeking.”  Rutherford B. Hayes, 19^th President of the United States

Carol writes:  We had just about completed our counterclockwise loop around the state of Ohio.  What an interesting 2 months it had been!

Our final campground in Ohio was on the shore of Lake Erie at Camp Perry, a National Guard training facility that claims to have the largest outdoor rifle range in the world. 

As we took our customary afternoon walk to check out our surroundings in a new campground, we saw hundreds of National Guard members sharpening their marksmanship skills at a long stretch of targets facing into the open waters along the shore of Lake Erie. 

RUTHERFORD B. HAYES MUSEUM AND LIBRARY

The state of Ohio lays claim to eight presidents with deep roots in the Buckeye State.  As presidential history junkies, we were delighted to have the opportunity to visit the home and museum devoted to Rutherford B. Hayes, 19^th President of the United States (1877-1881).  From our campground at Camp Perry it was a short drive to Spiegel Grove in Fremont, Ohio, home of the Hayes family estate.

In addition to serving as our 19^th President, Hayes also served as a General in the Civil War, Congressman from Ohio, Governor of Ohio, father to eight children and devoted husband to Lucy.  Spiegel Grove was his home for most of his adult life, and that is the place where he retired to private life with his wife after serving one term in the presidency.

The 25-acre wooded estate of Spiegel Grove consisted of the 100-year-old Hayes Museum and Library, a forerunner of the modern system of presidential libraries,

the 31-room Hayes family mansion, with the first floor restored to the 1880s era,

and the burial site of the President and his wife, Lucy Webb Hayes.

The museum wonderfully chronicled the extraordinary life of service of Rutherford B. Hayes and his loving marriage to Lucy. There was a marvelous collection of old photographs and personal items that I have always found to be fascinating, such as...

the wedding dress of Lucy Webb Hayes,

a ring owned by President Hayes that contained the hair of George Washington,

and the Hayes presidential carriage.

As usual, I found it frustrating not being allowed to take pictures inside an historic mansion, but the Internet came to my rescue…

Internet photo of Drawing Room

The years of the Hayes presidency included overseeing the final days of Reconstruction; however, despite some laudable successes, many historians would agree that the presidential years of Rutherford B. Hayes were relatively unremarkable.  Although the presidency was undoubtedly the crowning achievement of his life, Hayes himself preferred to be called “General” in recognition of the Civil War years he devoted to preserving the union and fighting to end slavery.

  

As governor of Ohio, Hayes considered his proudest achievement to be the establishment of The Ohio State University as a land grant college in 1870.  There’s a whole lot of Buckeye fans who would agree.

KELLEYS ISLAND

Some of the most scenic communities along the shore of Lake Erie can be found on the offshore islands.  Four years ago we were treated to a delightful day with my brother and his wife at Lake Erie’s Put-in-Bay on South Bass Island.

That day was so memorable that we longed for a repeat experience—this time on nearby Kelleys Island.  The ferry ride over on the calm waters of Lake Erie was breathtaking in its beauty.

The village was quaint and harkened back to a simpler time in the past. 

For a change of pace, we decided to rent a golf cart and soon found ourselves riding past exquisite homes along the water in the high-rent district.

By a quirk of nature, Kelleys Island is home to the finest example of glacial grooves in the world.  On the north end of the island there was a series of spectacular grooves that have been exposed for almost 400 feet in length.  These giant grooves were carved into the limestone bedrock by the action of an advancing continental glacier as it flowed down into northern Ohio from Canada 25,000 years ago.

This so-called Wisconsin Glacier was a much as a mile thick and covered many thousands of square miles throughout Canada, the Great Lakes, and several of our northern states.

Throw in a cemetery crawl past tombstones of some of the earliest settlers on Kelleys Island, mixed in with a lunch of yummy fried lake perch, and we couldn’t have had a more wonderful day driving our golf cart along the hidden gems on Kelleys Island.

During our stay at Camp Perry my brother and his wife made one last visit to our campground.  This was the fourth time they have caught up with us on the road this summer during our travels in Michigan and Ohio.  We look forward to seeing them again soon!

Time to head into Indiana Amish country for some minor warranty work on our motorhome at the Entegra factory in Middlebury, Indiana.  We are looking forward to meeting other Entegra owners and spending time with some of the expert Entegra service people who have served us so well.

THE OLD MEETS THE NEW IN HOLMES COUNTY OHIO

“Success isn’t owned.  It’s leased, and rent is due every day.”       J.J. Watt

Carol writes:  For the pro football fan, the ultimate destination is the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.  Al found a nice campground out in rural Holmes County, just a short drive from Canton.  What we didn’t realize before we got there was that Holmes County has the largest population of Amish anywhere in the country.  This part of Ohio certainly offers the chance to observe their technology-free way of life in which time stands still! 

With a population of approximately 36,000 Amish in a several-county area, while driving we had to be on constant lookout for the distinctive black horse-drawn buggies of the local Amish residents…and there were a lot of buggies on the road!

Amish-owned market stands were everywhere! 

Since we don’t have room in our RV for many souvenirs, most of our touristy purchases tend to be items we can eat.  No storage problem with that!  We took the opportunity to buy some yummy apple butter and apple strudel, and also stocked up on some of those incredible Amish home-grown fruits and veggies. 

PRO FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME

The Pro Football Hall of Fame was quite entertaining!  One of the displays about the early days of football caught my eye.  It was about Byron “Whizzer” White, the only man ever to play professional football in addition to sitting as an associate justice on the Supreme Court!

Many of the other displays narrated stories of great players and events that we remembered well.  As diehard Denver Bronco fans, we were happy to see the Broncos well represented.  We were watching the game the night Payton Manning set the career record for passing touchdowns. 

One of our all-time favorite players was #84—tight end Shannon Sharpe—and there were the shoes he wore when he set some impressive records!

Colorful displays of immediately recognizable football jerseys caught the eye!

We spent lots of time with our heads bent over a large display case with a sample of every Super Bowl ring for the past 50 years.

 

For me, the most impressive room was the Pro Football Hall of Fame Gallery with its weirdly fascinating collection of bronze busts, grouped by year of induction of each player elected to the Hall of Fame.

Once again, by some strange coincidence, we just missed a Donald Trump sighting.  That very morning, accompanied by the current Hall of Fame president, Trump had been escorted through the Hall of Fame Gallery. Just a few hours later, we felt we were the luckier ones when we had the opportunity to have an extended conversation and a handshake with the docent who shook Payton Manning’s hand when he visited.

 

The Lombardi Trophy for the winner of next year’s Super Bowl was already on display.

Shoes, iconic jerseys, memorabilia, rings and bronze busts:  the Pro Football Hall of Fame was a fan’s delight!

CUYAHOGA VALLEY NATIONAL PARK

Since we were not far from Cuyahoga Valley National Park, we could not pass up the opportunity for a visit.  The fact that this national park was spread out over many miles did not make for easy exploration, since much of the park was interspersed between private land and homes.

 

For our brief visit, we elected to ride our bikes on a portion of the paved Ohio and Erie Canal Towpath Trail.  This trail was most representative of the reason for the park’s existence:  to preserve the history of the canal route through the Cuyahoga River valley.  Before the arrival of the railroad, this canal was a primary transportation artery between the Midwest and the East Coast and as such played a big part in the commercial development of the Midwest.

We enjoyed a great bike ride on the historic  towpath—over bridges, through tunnels, and beside now-dry historic locks along the trail.

MCKINLEY PRESIDENTIAL MUSEUM

Besides the Pro Football Hall of Fame, we had another destination that we wanted to see in the Canton area, and that was the McKinley Presidential Library and Museum. 

William McKinley, 25^th President of the United States, was born in Niles, Ohio, but he called Canton home.  Alongside his wife, his final resting place was beneath the rotunda of a grandiose mausoleum atop a hill with 108 steps. 

Prior to the Presidency, William McKinley was also a Congressman from Ohio and Governor of Ohio.  He was a confident man and once said, “I have never been in doubt since I was old enough to think intelligently that I would someday be made president.” 

As President he led our nation to victory in the Spanish American War and was instrumental in acquiring Hawaii as a territory.  Prominent Canton residents were so bereft at his untimely death that they conceived such a grand burial site out of love for their beloved favorite son.

The McKinley Gallery section of the museum consisted of a large room with McKinley family artifacts from his early life in Canton as an attorney, in addition to memorabilia from the White House years.  Clever animated figures of the President and his wife, Ida Saxton McKinley, narrated explanations.

McKinley is pictured here with Theodore Roosevelt.  Assassinated by an anarchist in 1901 a year into his second term, he was succeeded by Vice President Theodore Roosevelt.

 

Nellie and William McKinley had two children, both of whom died at a young age, leaving them with no immediate heirs.  Thus, the Stark County Historical Society has taken on the responsibility of preserving McKinley artifacts.

The city of Canton has beautifully preserved the family home of President McKinley’s wife, Ida Saxton McKinley.  The Saxton home was in downtown Canton just a block from the so-called First Ladies Library. 

Aside from some china, campaign buttons, and a handful of dresses belonging to former First Ladies, the actual First Ladies Library had little else and admittedly was still a work in progress.  However, this museum was the gateway for a visit to Ida Saxton McKinley’s family home just a few doors down.  As a married couple, the McKinleys lived in Saxton House for 13 years of their married life.

The Saxton House was a Victorian-era beauty from the outside. 

Using historic photographs as models, the inside has been restored to its past glory with great attention to detail. 

That was a very enjoyable week’s stay near Canton as fall was just starting to reveal its colors along the rural byways of northeastern Ohio.  We found a variety of outings to fascinate the football fan and the history buff.  Add to this mix some great Amish food, surrounded by the ambience of the Amish way of life, and I can understand why the campground was packed to the brim with weekend campers.

For these pro football fans and presidential history junkies, this was a near-perfect stop.

“Our differences are policies, our agreements principles.”  President William McKinley